Myths about Redbad
There are several stories about Redbad. In East Frisia in particular, these stories are still actively passed down from generation to generation.
The sleeping Redbad
One legend tells of a king who did not die, but lies sleeping deep within a mount. Only when his people need him will he awaken and return.
The Robodes Roads
In the north-east of Frisia, there were not only well-known roads, but also the legendary Konrebbers or Robodes roads. There were various stories about these mysterious roads. According to a Frisian legend, one of these was very wide, ‘adorned with various types of polished marble’, leading to a square where an exceptionally large seat was said to be found. Only the supreme god Woden was permitted to sit upon it. There was also a story circulating that these roads led to the ‘Upstalboom’, an ancient open-air court near Aurich in East Frisia. But they could just as easily have led to King Redbad’s East Frisian strongholds. Directly contrary to this is the explanation that the Robodes roads ‘lead from nowhere to nowhere’.
The Ghost of Hoogwoud
In Hoogwoud, in West Friesland, the ghost of Redbad was a sort of bogeyman for children. He haunted the area as the ‘Tientôn-elfrib’ (ten toes and eleven ribs). He roamed about in the dark with a sack on his back, on the lookout for small children. They were warned that he would grab them and put them in his sack if they weren’t indoors before dark: ‘Remember, don’t be out too late, or else Tientoon and Elfrib will catch you!’
The monster has a large pike’s head with sharp teeth on a scaly human torso. Furthermore, this strange creature has fins instead of legs. The fact that the ghost of the notorious pagan king looks like this is linked to the famous legend about the baptismal font. According to the legend, the Tientôn-elfrib would emerge from a deep whirlpool at night, shuffle through the village to the churchyard and there dip his left hand into the half-empty baptismal font. Unfortunately for King Radboud, his incomplete baptism leaves him half-human, half-fish. Despite his attempts at self-baptism, he will never become a full Christian.
The Hengstegat
From S. Franke’s Legends along the North Sea. King Redbad was on his way to East Frisia on his proud stallion. He had to cross the Eems and, because he was King Redbad, he leapt across the wide river at Otterdum. In various tales, King Redbad is portrayed as the Wild Hunter or leader of the Wild Hunt, with comparisons being drawn to Woden/Odin, who, according to Norse mythology (recorded in the 13th century in the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda), was the leader of the Wild Hunt.
Asbran
On the way home, the god of the sea emerged from the Rekere (a river), having previously been a black swan. The sea god exchanged Redbad’s sword for the sword Asbran, belonging to ‘he who rules over all mankind’, for Asbran was intended for ‘the one who will defend the people when the day dawns on which the people are reduced to slavery’. After Redbad’s death (719 CE), the sword had to be cast into the sea so that it could return to the sea god. Thereafter, the black swan, accompanied by six white ones, flew to the North Sea. This draws a striking parallel with King Arthur of England. According to legend, his sword Excalibur, too, had to be cast back into the water after his death.
Charlemagne and Redbad
The actual title is ‘Fan dae koningen Kaerle ende Redbad': of the kings Kaerle and Redbad.
It begins with Charlemagne and King Redbad of Denmark both laying claim to Great Frisia. To settle their dispute, they decide to hold a contest: whoever can stand still for the longest wins the territory. This contest appears to be based on a legal practice known as the ‘oath of stillness’: the sworn oath is valid if one manages to remain standing still in a cross-legged position. Like a true trickster, Charlemagne drops his gauntlet, which King Redbad then picks up. As a result, Redbad has moved, and has therefore lost the contest. There is also another layer to this: in the Middle Ages, offering a glove was a way of becoming a vassal, a subordinate. King Redbad has therefore actually lost twice: first by moving, and then by offering a glove to Charlemagne, thereby becoming his vassal.
Odin’s City
Theun de Vries made his debut in 1925 with his book Friesche Sagen, which was inspired by Waling Dijkstra’s Uit Friesland's volksleven van vroeger en later (1896). In Odin’s city (known as Wartna), Redbad’s royal lineage is mentioned. According to this account, he was succeeded by Aldgilles, Redbad, Condebald (Gondebald), Aldgilles and Gerbrand. The royal line withdrew from Medemblik to Wartna. At the end of the 12th century, the blacksmith Wybo, son of the blacksmith Redbald, put an end to the harmony of the line and killed his twin brother, whom he had believed to be dead but who had in fact converted to Christianity. According to the curse pronounced during the founding of Odin’s city, this signalled the end of Wartna.